‘Shocking’ text messages sent by a Northern Territory cop to colleagues have been revealed in an inquest into the death of Indigenous teenager Kumanjayi Walker.
Mr Walker, 19, died on November 9, 2019, after Constable Zachary Rolfe, 31, shot him three times in the remote community of Yuendumu, 290km northwest of Alice Springs, when he attacked him with a pair of scissors.
Constable Rolfe, who was cleared of a murder charge at a Supreme Court trial, and his team had been sent from Alice Springs to relieve exhausted local cops.
He had been attempting to arrest Mr Walker at his grandmother’s house because he ran away from a rehabilitation program.
Zachary Rolfe sent a series of texts to colleagues in the months leading up to the shooting of Kumanjayi Walker that refer to Indigenous people as ‘c**ns’ and ‘Neanderthals’ (pictured: Rolfe arrives at the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in March)
Yuendumu Remote Sergeant Anne Jolley was examined at the inquest on Wednesday by counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, who read her texts sent from Rolfe to fellow police officers between March and November 2019.
In one exchange a female officer who had been sent on a job to a remote community told him she was ‘super hangry’.
‘Hate that. Oi, if you’re hungry, you’re definitely allowed to towel locals up,’ Rolfe responded.
The female officer replied: ‘If your last name rhymes with Olfe, you’re allowed to towel up locals.’
To which he responded: ‘I do have a license to towel locals. I like it.’
Ms Jolley said she understood the phrase to refer to beating someone up.
A mock up of one text exchange between Rolfe and a female colleague (pictured)
In another, Rolfe made reference to a ‘c**ns’, a term Sergeant Jolley, the chief officer at Yuendumu, agreed at the inquest was blatantly racist.
Const Rolfe also referred to ‘Neanderthals who drink too much alcohol’, which Sgt Jolley accepted was ‘disgusting and unacceptable’.
In another of Const Rolfe’s messages, he was critical of the local police or ‘bush cops’ who he wrote were ‘f***ing s*** house’. Dr Dwyer said the texts suggested he was of the opinion local cops were weak.
Sgt Jolley said such attitudes were hurtful to officers who worked really hard in their communities so that they didn’t have to use force.
NT Police Force counsel Ian Freckelton KC said the messages were offensive but did not represent the values of territory police.
‘It is important that a misimpression not be propagated that this modest number of offensive utterances by text messages be imputed to the whole police force,’ he said.
‘To do so would run the risk of diminishing the respect in which the force is generally held.’
In earlier evidence on Wednesday, the inquest was told that Mr Walker had tried to harm himself after being taken into custody as a child, several years before his death, and that police had concerns for his mental health and wellbeing.
Sgt Jolley said she had watched the teen’s health deteriorate upon his return to the remote community in 2015 after a period away.
It was noted that he was constantly roaming the streets at night and engaging in disruptive behaviour.
‘When I spoke to family, they just said he wasn’t listening,’ Sgt Jolley said.
At one stage before his death, the officer expressed the opinion that Mr Walker was a ‘troubled young man through no fault of his own’.
Asked to reflect on the lack of help provided to the teenager, Sgt Jolley said: ‘It appears we’ve let him down’.
Yuendumu Remote Sergeant Anne Jolley said Mr Walker (pictured) was a ‘shy’ kid and that authorities had ‘let him down’
Kumanjayi Walker (pictured), 19, died on November 9, 2019 in Yuendumu after being shot
Sgt Jolley said she first had contact with Mr Walker over a local break-in when he was aged about 13.
‘He was a shy person. And there was a certain fear when he saw us,’ she said.
‘He was always quite reserved and when we’ve had to lock him up he got very emotional, got very teary.’
The inquest was also told of a report which detailed an incident in May 2014 when Mr Walker was taken into custody.
While in a police cell, the teenager continued calling out threats to harm himself if he went to juvenile detention.
Among other actions, he twice hit his head on the wall, punched the wall several times, threatened to poke his eye out and bit his finger.
Sgt Jolley described the boy’s behaviour as concerning and said she feared for his wellbeing.
‘I would have had the medical clinic down there as quick as I could,’ she said.
Sgt Jolley told the inquest that Mr Walker’s death had definitely traumatised the local community.
‘They are healing, but that will take time,’ she said.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25).
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